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New York City voters support the release of public schoolteacher rankings, even if they have little faith in what those rankings measure, a poll released Wednesday morning showed.

The survey of registered voters by Quinnipiac University found 58% approved the release of the internal performance data while 38% opposed it. The poll was the first measure of public opinion since the city distributed rankings of about 18,000 teachers to the media, which had requested the information under public records laws.

Despite majority support for the release of the teacher-performance data, only 20% of poll respondents said they trusted the rankings, while 46% said the results were flawed and another 34% were unsure.

In a non-schools question, the poll found 82% of New York City voters like the city’s restaurant-grading system, and 67% said the letter grades posted in front of restaurants influences where they eat.

The teachers rankings were part of New York City’s attempt to grade a group of fourth- through eighth-grade teachers based on their students’ scores on state English and math tests.

he city used a formula that compared how well students were expected to score, accounting for a slew of variables including demographic factors, number of absences and class size, with how well they scored on the exams. Teachers were then ranked on a curve against their peers who taught the same grade and had the same level of experience…